Love As

Love As

Love as you wish to be remembered
By those you touched in your time,
Write your own eulogy on the hearts
Of others, short and sweet, somewhat sublime…
Let them recall you practiced more than preached,
Helped and gave rather than scolded,
That by your steady and godly example
You patiently shaped and gently molded
The souls of those around you, always for good.

Live as you wish to be emulated
By those who knew you back when,
Speak the truth with humble kindness,
Truly seeing your own sins: only then
Can the Lord use you to reach the lost,
To strengthen the weary, to comfort the grieving:
Only if you love without counting the cost
Can you serve as “role model of the Lord”.

Love as you wish to be celebrated
By those who knew you in life,
Mirror the mercy of our Lord and Savior,
Be a bold, shining light in a world rife
With darkness, depression, and sorrow,
By your cheerful and steadfast manner
Show the sad that there’s hope for tomorrow,
That God triumphant still rules the Cosmos!

© 2023 Joseph L. Campanello